If momentum, as the adage goes, is as good as your next day’s starting pitcher, ‘Mo’ was a fickle beast Wednesday, as Anibal Sanchez — coming off his 17-strikeout gem — looked mortal early.

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Momentum flip-flopped to the Tigers, after they managed to end Scott Diamond’s improbable no-hit bid in the fifth, cutting their deficit to a run.

And then it switched right back to the Twins, as they piled on some extra runs against a depleted Tigers bullpen, handing Detroit a 6-2 defeat to end the home stand.

By the end of the night, it could be ‘no mo’ first place, too, as the Tigers fell into a tie with Kansas City.

Still, the Tigers won two of the three series and split the other, and leave for a six-game, two-city trip with a 15-11 record after the 6-2 homestand. Up next is a six-game, two-city trip to Houston and Washington.

“(Sanchez) pitched well enough he could’ve got a win. The offense was just off today. We had a great homestand,” Torii Hunter said. “You want to sweep a Major League club, I always say, but those Major League clubs won’t let you do it.”

Sanchez looked like he was cruising again after striking out the first two. He even went to a one-ball, two-strike count on the third, Josh Willingham. Two walks, a double and a single later, and the Tigers were down, 2-0, with Sanchez having expended 41 pitches.

A two-out RBI double by Jamey Carroll made it 3-0 in the second inning.

“I think he was a little fast-forward in the first inning, and that took a toll on him, took a toll on his control. Didn’t work out too good. Got his pitch count up too early. Like I said, he normally doesn’t start out 94, 95 and I think his control paid a price for it,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

And Sanchez’s pitch count just kept climbing.

It was at 59 after two ... 74 after three ... 91 after four ... 105 after five.

“Last year, I worried about his stamina a little bit. I still watch him, because it’s early, but he’s strong. I can see right now I can plan for — I mean, if he’s getting them out, I can plan for another inning,” said Leyland, who worried last year when Sanchez approached the 100-pitch mark.

“Last year, yeah, but I can extend that a little now. I wouldn’t do it all the time — I wouldn’t want to throw him 120 every game. But I feel comfortable extending him a little bit now.”

Sanchez retired the final 11 batters he faced and 13 of the final 14, ending up with 115 pitches.

It ended a streak of six straight games where the starter pitched into the seventh for the Tigers, but it was still an excellent recovery after a shaky start.

“Oh, he’s tough. There’s no question about that. He still come out and give us a good shot at it. We got it 3-2, and just couldn’t hold it there,” Leyland said. “He’s an excellent pitcher that just was out of whack, and probably throwing a little too hard a little too early.”

There’s a precedent for struggling after a big strikeout game.

After he struck out 15 Pirates last May, Max Scherzer also faced the Twins in his next outing, giving up two runs in the first two innings, and lasting just 5 1/3 innings.

Sanchez would also strike out nine batters, five through the first two innings. That gave him 22 over a 10-inning span, just one less than the most (a mark shared by four pitchers) by any pitcher since 1974, according to research by STATS, LLC.

On the other side, Scott Diamond carried a no-hit bid two batters into the fifth. It ended when Jhonny Peralta singled to right field with one out.

The whole complexion of the game changed in the sixth, though, when Austin Jackson doubled and scored on Torii Hunter’s single, then Miguel Cabrera doubled to make it a one-run game, 3-2.

Then it changed right back.

Rookie Bruce Rondon relieved Sanchez in the seventh, and gave up a triple and an RBI single before getting an out, then loaded the bases with two walks on his next nine pitches, before getting pulled to scattered boos. After the game, he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo.

Darin Downs gave up an RBI single before getting an inning-ending double play to limit the damage.

Still, it allowed the Twins to reestablish the three-run margin.

Minnesota would add to it in the eighth with a leadoff home run by Chris Parmelee, making it 6-2.

“Well, that takes the starch out of you a little bit, but even to the ninth inning, we were still playing,” Leyland said. “I mean, we got two hits to start off the ninth inning. A four-run deficit’s not that much, really. Things happen fast here.”

The Tigers could never get ‘Mo’ back, going one-two-three in the seventh and eighth.

Even back-to-back singles by Cabrera and Prince Fielder to start the ninth weren’t enough to grab momentum back, as Twins closer Glen Perkins got a 5-4-3 double play, then a strikeout to end it.

One thing did continue, though.

The Tigers, who came in tied with this year’s Boston staff for the longest streak of consecutive games (five) with 10 or more strikeouts, set a new American League record with a sixth. Jose Ortega made his season debut in the ninth inning, and struck out two, giving Tigers pitchers 11 on the game.

“What? Man, those guys are nice. Great staff. Glad I don’t have to face those guys anymore, and I’m glad I’m on their side,” Hunter said. “That’s why I came here. I knew what kind of staff this team had — I had to face them, and it wasn’t fun. It wasn’t a hard decision for me, because you look at that pitching staff, and that defense and that offense, and you really have a good chance of winning ballgames over here.”

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.